Telephone English Phrases

First let’s learn some essential telephone vocabulary, and then you’ll hear examples of formal and informal telephone conversations.

There are different types of phones:

cell phones or mobile phones
(a cell phone with more advanced capabilities is called a smartphone)

Cell phone and smartphone

pay phones or public phones

the regular telephone you have in your house is called a landline – to differentiate it from a cell phone.

This type of phone is called a cordless phone because it is not connected by a cord.

When someone calls you, the phone makes a sound – we say the phone is ringing. If you’re available, you pick up the telephone or answer the telephone, in order to talk to the person.

If there’s nobody to answer the phone, then the caller will have to leave a message on an answering machine or voicemail. Later, you can call back or return the call.

When you want to make a phone call, you start by dialing the number. Let’s imagine that you call your friend, but she’s already on the phone with someone else. You’ll hear a busy signal – a beeping sound that tells you the other person is currently using the phone.

Sometimes, when you call a company, they put you on hold. This is when you wait for your call to be answered – usually while listening to music.

Finally, when you’re finished with the conversation, you hang up.

Now you know the basic telephone vocabulary. In the next part of the lesson, you’re going to hear some conversations to learn some useful English phrases for talking on the phone.

Ryan: Hi Natalie, thanks for getting back to me. I was calling about the shipment of keyboards for our office – we haven’t gotten them yet.

Natalie: Oh, that’s not good – they were supposed to be delivered three days ago.

Ryan: Exactly, and we have a new group of employees starting on Monday, so we really need those keyboards as soon as possible.

Natalie: Okay, I’ll look into it right away – if necessary, we can send you an emergency overnight shipment.

Ryan: Thanks, Natalie, I appreciate it.

Natalie: No problem, Ryan. I’ll call you back a little later, as soon as I have more information.

Ryan: Sounds good – talk to you soon.

Natalie: Bye.

Telephone English Phrases – Formal Conversation

From these conversations, we can learn phrases for beginning a phone call, taking and leaving messages, checking and clarifying information, and finishing a phone call.

BEGINNING A CALL

When Helen answers the phone, she says, “Midtown Computer Solutions, Helen speaking. How can I help you?” This is a common way for a receptionist at a company or organization to answer the phone. Here are a couple alternatives:

You can also add the phrase “I’m calling about…” or “I’m calling to…” in order to give a reason for your call. Use “I’m calling about…” to introduce a topic, and “I’m calling to…” to introduce an action:

“May I ask who’s calling?” / “Who’s calling, please?”If you forgot to identify yourself at the beginning of the call, the receptionist will sometimes use this phrase to ask for your name.

TAKING / LEAVING MESSAGES

Unfortunately the person Ryan wants to speak to is not available, and the receptionist says “I’m sorry, Natalie’s in a meeting at the moment.” Here are some additional phrases to use when another person can’t answer a telephone call:

If you don’t want to leave a message, you can say: “No thanks, I’ll call back later.”

There are two polite ways to leave a message. You can make a statement starting with “Please” or a question starting with “Could you…” – usually followed by the verbs ask, tell, or remind and then “him” (if the message is for a man) or “her” (if the message is for a woman).

Ryan: Sorry about that – I’m at the train station. I was wondering if you wanted to go fishing this weekend. I’m heading up to Mountain Lake with some friends early tomorrow morning.

Peter: Uh, hang on a sec, let me just check with my wife to make sure we have no other plans.

Ryan: Sure.

Peter: Okay, she’s given me the green light!

Ryan: Sweet! We’ll pick you up at 6 tomorrow morning, is that OK?

Peter: Yup. Do you need directions to my place?

Ryan: Uh, you still living on Willow Street, near the community center?

Peter: Yeah, that’s right. The yellow house, number 30.

Ryan: Gotcha. I know how to get there.

Peter: All right – see you tomorrow, then.

Ryan: Take care.

Peter: Bye.

Telephone English Phrases – Informal Conversation

Let’s learn some of the different phrases used in an informal telephone conversation. In informal phone calls, most people answer the phone by saying “Hello?” and the introduction is also different:

Formal: “Hello, this is _______.”

Informal: “Hi / Hey ________, it’s _________.”

We see two different greetings in this conversation: “How’s it going?” and “What’s up?” These greetings require different answers. You can answer “How’s it going?” (or the similar question “How are you doing?”) with: